February 18, 2020
By treating water and making it recyclable
By treating water and making it recyclable, we are ensuring that there is always
water in the toilet for flushing. Either of these two teams could, sooner or
later, design devices to light up many a home in rural outreaches. That’s not
all.Prof. Ghangrekar and Neethu Bhaskar, a research scholar, are also working on
a variant of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) which generates electricity by using
bacteria as the catalyst to oxidise organic and inorganic matter at the anodic
side. The cost of each unit less than Rs 5.
It’s the first bioelectric toilet
which recycles waste water for use, and in the process, generates electricity to
light up the building.Besides the advantage of stacking many of these miniature
paper batteries filled with a little sewage water for production of electricity,
the cost of each unit less than Rs 5 makes them ideal devices for use in rural
areas on shoe-string budgets. "One of the best advantages of these devices is
that they are 100 per cent biodegradable and environment friendly, which is not
the case with chemical batteries,†he added.. Prof. Well, not just another
toilet. This team has applied for a patent, given such an array of
advantages."We are trying to make improvisations so that it is more
user-friendly.Not far from his Civil Engineering Department, on the IIT campus,
Prof. Debabrata Das says these miniature paper batteries need as little as 400
micro litres of wastewater containing bacteria to produce about five microwatts
of electricity.
There is sometimes scarcity of water because of which the
toilets remain dry and dirty. We have not finalised the industry though many
domestic and foreign industries have approached us for commercialisation of the
technology,†says Prof. We are currently trying to extend the project further
both in terms of improvement of power as well as to take it to the stage of
application for powering sensors, electronic components or bioelectric toilets,â€
Prof. The variant, sediment microbial fuel cell car batteries
factory (SMFC), has oxygen which governs the performance of SMFC. But for
this device, power production starts within ten seconds,†says Ramya
Veerubhotla, a research scholar and member of this team. "We should understand
why toilets are not being used, particularly at night. It costs a little more
than Rs 2 lakh.
We can bring down the cost once it is made on a commercial scale
by an industry. M. Das added. Ghangrekar, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT,
Kharagpur, who led the team that designed the bioelectric toilet. The miniature
paper batteries are filled with a little sewage water for production of
electricity. The prototype was built on the campus of IIT, Kharagpur, and used
through the day by five people.The electricity generated using a six-chambered
reactor in which waste water is rotated clockwise and anti-clockwise could also
be used to charge cellphones or tablets during the day.
He told Deccan Chronicle
that NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd) is funding one toilet in
Noida after the project won accolades from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a
one-of-its-kind public welfare technology developed for the common man. "This
power is too low to drive practical applications, but as the device is made of
paper, we can stack multiple units to boost the output of power.By treating
water and making it recyclable, it is being ensured that there is always water
in the toilet.
Debabrata Das, his colleagues and students of the Department of
Biotechnology, have developed miniature paper batteries (measuring 3 cm x 4 cm)
which help generate power from bacteria in sewage water. At the same time, we
are harvesting power that can be used to illuminate the toilet cabin at night,â€
the professor explained. By the end of this month (April) or early May, a new
toilet will dot the urbanscape of Noida (Uttar Pradesh).M. "Normally microbial
fuel cells (MFCs) take a couple of days to start power production as the
bacteria need to get adjusted to the environment
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